i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining us. president obama is about to take the stage in tampa. and he'll have some big news to celebrate with his supporters. just over an hour ago, republican with vast crossover aappeal announced his endorsement for obama. listen to this from former secretary of state colin powell. >> i voted for him in 2008 and plan to stick with him in 2012 and i'll be voting for he and vice president joe biden next month. >> that's an endorsement for president obama for re-election? >> yes. >> jessica yellin, many say colin powell is a rino, republican in name only. will this endorsement matter? >> reporter: he has flown overnight from las vegas, on this nonstop battleground tour to the states he feels he has to lock up to help win the white house again. carol, the bottom line with endorsements is that they tend not to move votes. so that's no different with colin powell. what is meaningful about the endorsement by powell is what he actually said. and if you listen to it,